Horse Addiction Disorder

HAD (Horse Addiction Disorder) refers to the psychological dependence on equines.
Unfortunately there is no known cure for this condition as deprivation is likely to lead to the sufferers actively seeking and/or approaching random equines. Not only could this pose potential dangers to the individual, but this behaviour inevitably reinforces the sufferer’s obsession with horses. In other words it's a vicious circle! HAD sufferers should be permitted their equine time despite the negative consequences which include: significantly reduced social hours with non horsey people, decreased regard for personal appearance and the strong possibility of their obsession causing poverty.
HAD sufferers are generally happy people, in fact all of them will tell you they don't suffer from this condition, they survive because of it!

Responsiblities of horse ownership

RESPONSIBLITIES OF HORSE OWNERSHIP

Click the above link to read the British Equine Veterinary Association Trust pdf written by Rachel Murray MA VetMB MS PHD Dip ACVS ECVS MRCVS of the Animal Health Trust Newmarket.

Contents:
Responsiblities to the horse: Nutrition & shelter
                                           Contentment
                                           Health
                                           Safety
                                           Use
                                           Euthansia
Responsiblities to others.
Responsiblities to the environment
Summary

Happy Christmas

Hope your Christmas wishes come true

Kam Tip of the Week

Here is a great resource from Kam Animal Services. Their Tips of the Week give you snippets of useful information.
Found via Horse and Man

Horse Yoga

Interesting article from Mail Online about Linda Gaunti and her Arab Lewis doing yoga together, take a look at the article
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2034410/Lewis-Egyptian-Arabian-horse-Still-competing-old-age-beating-stiffness-joints--doing-YOGA.html
and be sure to read the comments.
What do you think, yoga or carrot stretches, learned or copied?

Haynet

Have you discovered Haynet yet?

Haynet is a brand new social friendly blogging network where we aim to bring together the best equine and country life bloggers around. There are many funny and inspirational horse owners and riders who are also talented bloggers, many of whom havent really been heard. Whether you’re a seasoned writer or a plucky newbie, we’re here to help you blog better through our network.

Haynet is a new UK-based site that already has over 400 members. It provides a central location for horse blogs, includes a  forum, categorization of blogs, and direct links to individual blog sites. And there's an “Agony Aunt” who'll answer your schooling problems so if you haven't joined already pop over now to http://hay-net.co.uk/ and join now.

Keep Your Horse Healthy - Free Disease Prevention Pack from World Horse Welfare

Last year, the UK horse industry was given a reminder of the increasing threat from infectious disease when Equine Infectious Anaemia was diagnosed in three locations in England for the first time since 1976.  The first case occurred in Wiltshire in January, followed by cases in Northumberland and Devon in September. 

It has never been so important to minimise the risk of serious and contagious diseases from entering or spreading across the country. An outbreak of disease could be catastrophic for the equestrian industry as well as threatening the welfare of horses in general.

Some worrying findings from our 2009 Livery Yard Survey suggest that many people are not aware of the risks or what preventative action should be taken:

• 61% of stables were not cleaned out between occupants
• 48% said there were no isolation facilities
• 38% said there were no procedures to exclude horses with disease

To help UK horse owners protect their horses against the ever-present and increasing threat from a number of infectious diseases, we launched a free disease prevention information pack last summer.  Keep Your Horse Healthy aims to highlight the need for every horse owner to be aware of diseases such as EIA, Strangles and Flu, and offers simple steps to help protect against their entry and spread.

So far, more than 2,000 copies of the pack have been requested and we've had some fantastic feedback from experts in the field.  To request your copy, please click here to complete our online request form or call the Campaigns Team on 01953 497232.

Our Chief Executive, Roly Owers, comments: “The pack has been created to give horse owners and keepers practical advice as to how they can minimise the incursion and spread of disease. Simple, everyday actions such as good hygiene, avoiding mixing with unfamiliar horses, and maintaining good routine health care are essential in the fight against disease.

“Our research has shown that we as an industry are not addressing the current risk of disease. With the growing popularity of horse riding, climate change and the ever-increasing movement of horses, both within the UK and overseas, the threat of disease is on the increase. We're extremely concerned that if we as a horse owning nation do not act now we will have an epidemic situation on our hands. Education is vital to protect our horses. Every horse owner has an obligation not only to their own horse, but to the horses in their yard and across the country.”